Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Mock Mince Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Roll the soda biscuits.
In a bowl, combine the rolled biscuits, raisins, currants, shredded citron, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the cider, lemon juice (or vinegar), and molasses.
Mix well and use as desired.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Biscuit + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together312 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Biscuit + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Currant + cidertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together500 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (biscuit, raisin, sugar, cinnamon, cider, lemon, molasses):
- Figfits better
- Orangefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against biscuit, raisin, sugar, cinnamon, cider, lemon, molasses. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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